State GOP To Faso: Take WSJ Article Down

According to an aide to Gov. George Pataki,Â state GOP Executive Director Ryan Moses asked John Faso’s campaign to remove from his Web site aÂ March 24 Wall Street Journal article in which the former minority leaderÂ said the governor “lost his way on taxes and spending.”

Moses said party leaders do object toÂ the gubernatorial hopeful’sÂ anti-Pataki comment. But more importantly, Moses said, they don’t wantÂ Faso – or any statewide candidate – taking shots at other Republican campaigns or elected officials.

Faso spokeswoman Susan Del Percio declined to comment. ButÂ the candidate himself said the article would stay put.

“I’ve worked closely with the governor through the years on a whole range of issues and, on most things, we see eye-to-eye,” Faso told The Associated Press. “On some things we
didn’t. There is no secret that I am a fiscal conservative, and I think New York is spending too much money and borrowing too much.”

Asked if he blamed the governor for that situation, Faso said, “I don’t use those kind of terms.”

“It’s not my job to diagnose who’s to blame, et cetera,” Faso told the AP. “I just think
Ryan and other folks from the state (party) committee would be better served worrying about raising money and fielding Republican candidates for the Legislature and for Congress rather than engaging in nonsensical backbiting against a candid Republican candidate for governor.”